AN EIGHT-goal onslaught either side of three-quarter-time helped lift Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong to victory over Collingullie-Glenfield Park on Sunday.
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GGGM coach Sam Martyn labelled it one of his team's best wins of the year as they were forced to dig deep to overcome a serious challenge on their way to a 14.16 (100) to 9.8 (62) win at Ganmain Sportsground.
GGGM lost full-forward Riley Corbett to a quad injury in the warm up and were then left to play the game with just two on the interchange bench.
That and an impressive start from the fourth-placed Demons had the Lions on the back foot early and it wasn't until the third minute of the third quarter that they were able to get in front.
The lead changed multiple times in a see-sawing third quarter but a couple of late goals to Tom Sase and Kai Watts helped GGGM to a five-point lead at the final change.
With the game up for grabs, the Lions roared to life with the first six goals of the last term.
Dan Foley, Watts and Jono Neville all stood tall and kicked multiple goals in the final quarter to help deliver the knockout blow.
Martyn was full of praise for the opposition but also loved the way his team responded to the challenge.
"It was bit of a litmus test for us," Martyn said.
"We hadn't really had a close game. The game against Mango we were blown out early and the other games we've done our business by about half-time so it was good to stand up when the challenge presented itself.
"We were missing a few players...we were limited to two on the bench but that doesn't take anything away from what Collingullie did, they were a really solid team and brought that fight.
"It was just a really good win, one of the better wins of our season and one that we'll look back on and might underpin how well we go this year."
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The Demons defence was strong early but the Lions eventually got on top and capitalised.
Foley was exceptional in attack with his strong marking and it was only his goalkicking that let him down.
Jacob Olsson was strong in the ruck, Ben Walsh enjoyed a good game in his 150th and Watts finished with five.
Corbett will have his quad injury assessed during the week but is likely to miss next Saturday's clash with Leeton-Whitton.
Josh Gunning, Dan Kennedy and the Perryman brothers all shone for the Demons, in a game that was dominated by 50 metre penalties and a number of missed opportunities in front of goal.
Collingullie-GP remain a game inside the top five.
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